The Next Videotape
by Abigail McNeil
Summary: Jason and Noah visit Philadelphia to see the Taylor family. One-shot future fic with the potential of a longer expansion. Follows TV show canon.


Jason knocked on the door lightly.

"Maybe they aren't home, Dad," Noah shrugged. It was Jason's fault that Noah was so impatient. After they finished their visit, he had promised his son that they could go get the famous ice cream at Bassett's

"Shh.. give them a second," Jason said, trying to glance around at the window. It looked like lights were on inside. He tapped a little harder on the door and thought he heard footsteps heading toward them.

A teenage girl about Noah's age opened the door, looking at them inquisitively. "Um, hi," she said. "Are you looking for the Taylor residence?" She clearly didn't recognize him, which wasn't that surprising given how long it had been since he last visited Philadelphia.

"Hi Gracie," Jason said, thinking about how much she looked like Julie at a similar age. "Jason Street," he said, extending his hand forward.

Jason nudged his son a little bit. "Uh, I'm Noah - Noah Street," Noah muttered, sticking out his hand a little bit more awkwardly. He had just finished going through puberty and was in a bit of an awkward phase.

"Oh, hi! Dad talks about you sometimes. And, um, just to let you know, it's just Grace now," Grace rambled with a tiny smile. "Come on in," she said, pulling the door open wider to let them inside. "Dad!" she shouted out toward the kitchen.

Eric peaked his head out of the kitchen. He had on an apron that said "Caution: Dad Cooking" across it in big bold letters. Seeing Jason and Noah, he grinned. "Well, I'll be damned," he said, walking over to hug them.

"It's been too long, Coach," Jason said, returning the hug. "Noah, you may not remember, but this is Coach Taylor."

Noah extended his hand, a bit less awkwardly this time, much to Jason's pleasure. "Hi, Coach Taylor. I'm Noah."

"Of course you are, son. Nice to see ya," Eric said, patting Noah on the back.

Tami entered from the kitchen too. "I thought I heard some extra voices in here! It's great to see you, Jason." She glanced at Noah. "Based on how much you look like your dad here, I'm going to guess that you're Noah?"

"Yeah," Noah nodded. Jason nudged him again, giving him a disapproving look. "I mean - yes, ma'am," Noah corrected.

"Wait, aren't you Dad's friend that's a sports agent? The one that even represents Kyle Collins and Dustin Faraway?" Grace suddenly asked. Even though she looked a lot like Julie, Jason could immediately tell that she had a lot more interest in football than Julie ever had.

"Yeah, yeah, that's me. But it's no big deal, really," Jason shrugged. He knew that it was a big deal to a lot of people, but he hated people thinking he was some big shot. He just loved football and happened to have a really neat job related to it.

"So, you know them?!" Grace asked, glancing at her parents with wide eyes.

Jason chuckled, "Yes, I do."

"I do too!" Noah suddenly added, looking at Grace with a big smile. "I bet that I could get you some autographs if you'd like?" Jason didn't know how he felt about Noah's smile. It reminded him a bit too much of how he used to look at Lyla when they were just young kids starting out high school. He glanced over at Eric and Tami, who gave him a knowing smirk.

"All right, Tiger, we can see what we can do about the autographs," Jason agreed, using Noah's childhood nickname to which Noah groaned. His cheeks turned a noticeably pinker shade.

"Hey, we were just finishing dinner. Can I get ya'all some tea or some coffee cake to join us for some dessert?" Tami asked.

"Oh no thank you, I promised Noa-" Jason began, only to pause as his son put his hand on his arm.

"It's okay, Dad," Noah said. "Tea and coffee cake sound _delicious_!" Jason rolled his eyes. Noah didn't even like coffee cake and hardly ever drank tea; however, Jason could see pretty clearly that he was very interested in staying as long as they could to spend some time with the new young lady who had caught his eye.

"Thank you, Mrs. Taylor," Jason added.

"Oh please, Jason. It's Tami," Tami smiled. Jason never could get himself to call either of them by their first names, even after all of this time. "I'll go get the tea and coffee cake and bring it out here while you all start to do some catching up. Gracie, can you give me a hand?"

"Grac _e_ , Mom, not Grac _ie_ ," Grace groaned. "But, yes, sure."

Noah perked up a bit, suddenly eager to join them. "I can help too!"

"Great, you kids, come on in with me," Tami said. As Noah and Grace led their way into the kitchen, she turned to wink at Jason. "I think we might have a start of a love story on our hands," she whispered.

Eric shook his head at Tami. "I keep telling you - she's not getting married until she's 45." He turned to Jason. "I'm still not over Julie being married and it's been eight years."

Jason chuckled as Tami finished entering her way into the kitchen behind the kids. "How are Julie and Saracen doing? They just had a baby, right?"

"You caught me. Believe it or not, but I'm a grandpa now," Eric confirmed. "The kid's name is Lora after Saracen's grandmother. Do you remember her?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course. She was sweet," Jason said, remembering meeting Matt's grandmother a couple of times. "I saw some pictures of the baby Facebook. She's beautiful."

"We'll keep her," Eric smiled. "It's been too long since we've caught up," He said with a hint of an apology in his voice.

"It goes both ways," Jason said with a small smile. "I've been saying that I'd get over here with Noah for years now, but time just flies."

"I can tell he's a great kid. You did well, son," Eric said. Jason couldn't help but widen his smile. Coach's feedback meant a lot to him. He'd always thought he was one of the best fathers around outside of his own. "Where are you all living these days?" Eric asked.

"In Atlanta," Jason said. He fiddled a bit with the side of his chair. "It's pretty crazy, but last year, Lyla and I got back together again." He still felt a bit self-conscious about how frequently he and Lyla had been on-again-off-again over the years, especially during the end of his time in Dillon.

"Wow, Lyla Garrity. I can't tell you that I'm all that surprised," Eric said. "You two were kids back then, but I always thought that there was something special brewing there. That's good, son. I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, she's a good stepmom too. The three of us all live down there now, and uh - we haven't told anyone this yet, but it's actually going to be four of us soon." Jason smiled. "We might need some tips from you and Mrs. Taylor on how to handle large age differences between siblings."

Eric leaned over to hug him. "Congratulations." He paused, "But let me tell you, it's damn hard. There's not a minute that I regret it though. My children and Tami are the most important things in my life."

Jason nodded, "That's actually the other reason why I'm here. Do you remember all of those football tapes that I gave you back on my 19th birthday?"

"How could I forget those tapes? Of course, I do," Eric replied.

"I know it's a long shot that you even still have them after all of this time, but I thought it'd be great if I could borrow them back if you do."

"You really think I'd get rid of the tapes of the best quarterback I ever had the pleasure of coaching?" Eric laughed. He stood up, walking over to the entertainment center and opened its cabinet. He scooped around for a moment, pulling out a tupperware bin with "Jason Street" scribbled on the front. "Besides, I had a feeling that you'd want these back sooner or later." He said, as he handed Jason the tapes.

"It's hard to believe, but Noah's about to start high school football this year," Jason admitted, glancing down at the box. "I don't know where I'm going to find a videotape player these days, but I figure that they must have one used on Amazon. Otherwise, I might have to go exploring through one of those old downtown Atlanta antiques shops."

"When Tami gets back, ask here. I'm sure we have an extra one lying around somewhere in the basement that she's hoping for me to get rid of by now," Eric offered. "Noah will be a freshman this fall? JV?"

Jason shook his head, feeling proud of his son. He felt more satisfied with his son's success than he ever had of his own. Even still, he always reminded Noah that, while very important, football isn't everything. He wanted his son to keep his eyes open on all sorts of options, unlike he did back at that age. "He's being sent right up to varsity," Jason said.

"That's about right. I don't know why I would've thought anything else about your son," Eric smiled. "Tell me the truth now - Is he as good as you were back then?"

Jason thought about Noah's recent performance at the Atlanta Falcons' Youth Football Clinic. He had stunned the Falcons' staff and caught the eye of a local private school known for their high school football. They'd taken him in for an internal try-out and ended up offering him a full ride. Noah had declined in favor of public school, but even then, the local media's attention had started to catch onto the rising star. At the very least, Georgia's high school football brought about less intense pressure than what came with high school football in Texas.

"I think he might be even better," Jason said. "We'll see, of course. I keep telling him that practice is everything and I'm really working on making sure he looks at other paths too, but, really, Coach, he's incredible."

"Well, son, like I said, you're one of the best kids I've ever had the pleasure of coaching. Beyond that though, you're a great man, you know that?" Eric put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "That kid's lucky to have you as a coach and he's even more lucky to have you as a father."

Jason felt his stomach pull into a bit of a knot. It meant a lot to hear those words, more than it would from most people. "Thanks, Coach."

Tami, Grace, and Noah re-entered from the kitchen with trays of tea and coffee cake. Noah was telling Grace some joke that was making her laugh and turn a bit red. Tami sat down on the couch next to Eric, leaving the loveseat open for Noah and Grace. "Are ya'all ready to eat some dessert?" She asked.

All of them agreed. "The Streets are eating for one extra," Eric joked. "That's how it works, right?" he said to Jason with a wink.

"I will take it!" Jason said, grabbing an extra forkful of coffee cake.

"Me too!" Noah said, driving his fork into an extra piece. "Grace, you can even share mine," he said and Jason could tell his son was trying his best to be cool. Grace smiled, taking an extra bite. Jason had a feeling that Noah was going to want to make more vacations to Philadelphia after this encounter.

"Hey, you all, how do you feel about watching one of these tapes?" Eric said, gesturing toward the box in front of Jason. "I'll fire up the old VCR." He got up to go toward the entertainment center again.

The tape came on with a bit more blurriness than it used to have, or perhaps that was just how used to HD they'd all become over the years. Sure enough though, Jason could see himself running plays in his old #6 jersey, which Eric pointed out to the group. Many years ago, right after the accident, this used to be hard for Jason to watch. Now, he found himself glancing at Noah instead. His son was beaming, even pointing on the screen as he called out plays.

"Wow, Dad," Noah said as the tape, came to an end. "You were _incredible_ ," He said as he looked over at the Taylors. "Would you mind if we watched another one?" Eric nodded, jumping up to put in the next tape.

Jason reached out to squeeze Noah's shoulder, hugging his son against him. He couldn't wait to see his son starting his own high school football career, no matter where it ended up. He took a moment to imagine sitting on the sideline of a football field in November with Lyla and a new baby by his side, watching Noah lead his own team to victory. As the next tape started, they all cheered. Watching those tapes, Jason felt like it was like it was all just yesterday and, yet, the future felt more exciting than ever. Soon enough, there'd be a new #6 playing high school football and being captured on his own tapes (or, rather, DVDs). He could hardly wait.


End file.
